Balavihar Week 17 Section 2

04/03/13

We started class as usual by chanting 3 Oms, Sahaanaavavatu and going into five minutes of meditation. We continued with chanting the full Guru Stotram.

Next, we proceeded to practice our Bhagavad Gita Chanting, finishing up till Sloka 14. Everyone should keep up the good work in practicing, everyone is really shaping up well. We still have 6 slokas to complete! And please register your children in the Gita Chanting Competition ASAP!

During story time, we learned about Hiranyakasapu and Prahlada. Hiranyakasapu was the brother of Hiranyaksa, who had been killed by Lord Vishnu in the avatar of Varaha. Because of this, Hiranyakasapu hated Lord Vishnu. He did an immense amount of tapas and meditation and received a boon from Lord Brahma. The boon was that Hiranyakasapu could not be killed by God, man, animal or any inanimate things. Also, he could not be killed during the day or during the night, nor in the sky, nor on Earth, not indoors, or outdoors. With this boon, he began thinking of himself as God, immortal, forcking people to worship him. 

Hiranyakasapu's youngest son was named Prahlada, and ever since he was born, he was an ardent devotee of Lord Vishnu. Regardless of all the lessons the teachers tried to teach him about kingly duties, all Prahlada was interested in was chanting, singing, or telling stories of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakasapu got angry at him, and tried to convince him to stop worshipping Vishnu. But this did not work and eventually he asked his men to kill Prahlada. However, Prahlada would always be chanting Vishnu's name, and all their attempts to kill him would fail. They tried to throw him from a cliff, poison him, crush him by an elephant, but nothing seemed to work. Hiranyakasaspu, now frustrated, told Prahlada to prove to him that Vishnu was omnipresent. He cut open a pillar, mocking that there was no way Vishnu could be inside it. However, once he cut the pillar, Vishnu came in the form of Narsimha, the half-man, half-lion avatar. He put Hiranyakasapu on his lap and tore open his chest with his nails, killing him. He then gave his blessings to Prahlada who never failed to worship him. 

Next Sunday we have Bhiksha with Swamiji at ashram. All third graders are welcome with parents, their siblings and grand parents. Please bring the food that you have signed up for!

See you next week!
~Indira Aunty and Sanjana Didi

Balavihar Week 17 Section 1

Balavihar Week 17- Section 1

March 4th, 2013 

Meditation Time:

Our class started with chanting “Om” and then concentrated on our breath and then meditated on the beautiful form of Sri Narayana for 5 minutes. We came out from our mediation seat by chanting “Om” three times which was followed by our opening prayer “sahanavavatu”.

Guru Stotram:

We did the entire stotram. 

Bhajan:

We did the "Raadhey Raadhey.." bhajan. 

Bhagavad Gita:

As with Gita chanting we didn’t do any new verse today. We practiced from 1^st to 18^th verse. For next class we’ve asked them to by heart up to the 9^th verse. We have only 2 more verses to do for this year. Kids keep practicing and parents do not forget to register your child for the Gita competition.

Bhaagvatam Time:

As with the story, today we heard the story of Hiranyakashyapu and Prahalad. Hiranyakashyapu was the brother of Hiranyaakshya who had been killed by Maha Vishnu by taking his Varaha Avatar. Due to this Hiranyakashyap had a vengeance towards Maha Vihsnu. For that he did rigorous tapas and got a boon from Brahmaji that he should not be killed by God, man, animal or by any inanimate things. Also he added that he should not be killed during day or night, not in the sky nor on earth, not inside nor outside. From then on Hiranyakashyap started thinking himself as God. He considered him as immortal and forced people to worship him as God. He punished people who didn't listen to him. People could not tolerate this any more and started praying to God for help.

Hiranyakashyap had 4 sons and his younger son’s name was Prahlad. Though he was born from a Daitya, Prahlad was an ardent devotee of Maha Vishnu. How much ever Hiranyakashyap tried to convince him, Prahlad would not listen. Prahlad used to keep on singing the glories of the Lord and chanting His name. Hiranyakashyap tried to convince him but Prahlad would not stop chanting Maha Vishnu's name. Hiranyakashyap got terribly angry and asked his men to put an end to his son. They tried killing him by various ways but surprising nothing happened to him. They tried to throw him down from a high cliff, they put him in a room with poisonous snakes, they made a mad elephant run over him but nothing happened to Prahlad. Prahlad still kept on praising the Lord and described Him to be omnipresent. Hirayanyakashyap couldn't bear this any more and drew out his sword and cut through the pillar asking if his Maha Vishnu is in the pillar too. Maha Vishnu in his Narasimha Avatar sprang out from the pillar with a tremendous roar and put him on his lap and tore open his chest with his nails. The Lord blessed then Prahlad to lead a very good life.     

Aarati and Pledge:

Today we wound up the class early at 11:20 as we had called for a parent meeting. We wound up the class with the Aarati and Pledge in the class. See you all next week. Until then keep practicing !! 

Important Annoucement:

Next Sunday we have Bhiksha with Swamiji at ashram. All third graders are welcome with parents, their siblings and grand parents.

Thanks and regards,

Pushkala Aunty and Deepthy Aunty